By Assunta Ng
From left: Tama Murotani-Inaba, Navaho Chief Manuelito, Carolyn Kelly, Norm Rice, and Diane Narasaki
This week, I’ve benefited from many words of wisdom. I thought I’d share them with you.
When you are in shock or anger, what words do you think of? Bad words. But I learned a valuable lesson from my young cousin Janet Woo on Oct. 1. With my 83-year-old aunt, Janet and I were crossing a quiet street around Lake City Way when a guy made a U-turn and his car almost knocked us down. We were only two feet away from the car. We were all upset at the driver initially, so we screamed at him. He yelled back.
Then, my cousin said something insanely smart and kind. We then turned our heads and walked away without looking back. Her graciousness and coolness amazed me.
So the first inspirational quote of the week is saying “God bless you!” in a moment of strife, from my cousin Janet.
Here are the others:
“I found that if I don’t buy jewelry and clothes, I save up a lot of money to donate to charities.”
— Tama Murotani-Inaba, Oct. 3
“Education is the ladder to success. Tell my grandchildren to climb the ladder.”
— Navaho Chief Manuelito (1818-1893) (as recounted by his great granddaughter Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, president of Antioch University, Oct. 7)
“A relationship is not a checklist that you can check off and it’s done. It takes a little more caring and nurturing.”
— Carolyn Kelly, former president of the Seattle Times, Oct. 7
“Give now, don’t endow! Why not do it while you can enjoy it, engage your family, and see the results?”
— Norm Rice, president and CEO of the Seattle Foundation, former mayor of Seattle, Oct. 5 at the Red Lion Inn
“You don’t have to be alone [when fighting for social justice]. You can ask for help [from other civil rights organizations].”
— Diane Narasaki, executive director of Asian Counseling & Referral Service, Oct. 7